Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood – 01

When the regenade Ice Alchemist runs amok inside Central, Führer King Bradley puts Roy Mustang in charge of his capture. Edward and Alphonse Elric are taking part in the operation as well, and they manage to corner the guy. Edward’s automail right arm and the fact that he doesn’t use a transmutation circle make the Ice Alchemist realize that Edward is the Fullmetal Alchemist. Regardless, the two manage to capture the Ice Alchemist, but he promptly escapes from the soldiers who come to take him away. The two brothers then return to headquarters where they get lectured by Mustang. The Flame Alchemist explains that the Ice Alchemist is Isaac McDougall, a former state alchemist who participated in the Ishbal extermination war but had given up his state alchemist title afterward and had joined an anti-establishment movement. Mustang prioritizes his capture but knows that they might have to kill him, and that’s something Ed doesn’t want to do. Their conversation is interrupted by the arrival of Maes Hughes who meets Ed and Al for the first time, and he invites them to stay over at his house. This gives Hughes the chance to show off his wife Gracia and daughter Elicia, and the family treats the brothers to dinner. Not wanting to reveal the reason why Al can’t eat, Ed claims that Al is in the middle of alchemist training.

Meanwhile, at Central Prison, Isaac has gone to see Kimblee, the Crimson Alchemist, to convince him to join forces to overthrow Bradley and the military. Isaac points to how Kimblee had killed high ranking military officials, but Kimblee claims that he just killed them because he wanted to, so Isaac leaves him there. Back at Hughes’s home, he’s up late thinking about how the Elric brothers are seen as dogs of the army at such a young age. Ed and Al, on the other hand, are talking about dinner and how Al wants to get his original body back. The search for Isaac continues the next day until Alex Louis Armstrong is able to find him in an alley, and the commotion attracts Ed and Al. Isaac manages to escape though, and he evades capture yet again when he gets cornered by Mustang and some troops. He returns to the same alley later that night, but he’s found again by Ed and Al. Instead of running away this time, he activates multiple red-hued transmutation reactions at once across the city, causing the brothers to think of the Philosopher’s Stone. Isaac feels that Ed would understand what he’s trying to do if Ed knew what the country was trying to do, but what Ed cares about now is how Isaac might have a Philosopher’s Stone.

Isaac then forms a giant block of ice and rides on top of it, and Ed and Al realize that Isaac is trying to bury headquarters in ice. Ed thus decides to go after Isaac and has Armstrong take care of the transmutation circles that Isaac set up. The two brothers climb onto the block of ice and fight Isaac, and when Isaac tries to blow Al’s head off, he realizes that he’s fighting an empty suit of armor upon which a soul was affixed. This combined with how Ed lost his real arm leads Isaac to figure out that the two brothers committed the taboo of human transmutation. This really angers Ed, and together with Al, he beats up on their opponent. Isaac, however, still has a few tricks up his sleeves, and he freezes his blood to stab Ed in the shoulder. This gives him a chance to escape again and make his way into a dark alley, but he finds Bradley waiting there. Isaac tries to take down Bradley with a spear of ice, but Bradley kills Isaac in one quick motion. By the time Ed and Al arrive on the scene, everything is already over, and the two still don’t know if a Philosopher’s Stone was involved. Unbeknownst to them, the Homunculus Lust is on the phone with someone about Isaac’s death. She thinks that Isaac used the Philosopher’s Stone too much, and she reports that things in Lior are going well. With Gluttony nearby, she feels that it will start soon.

I really liked the music from the original FMA and had hoped that the new series could feature some good songs as well. Fortunately, YUI and SID don’t disappoint. Both songs are pretty good – Uso is a bit more catchy but I’m liking again more the more I hear it. As for the animation sequences, the OP features mostly characters shots (and this being FMA, there are a lot of characters) plus a couple of action sequences, and it was cool to see that certain parts had the character lips matching up to the lyrics. The ED meanwhile is an amusing hand-drawn style, though I didn’t really think that it matched the song. In any case, the full versions of both songs are already out there if you need some instant gratification.

Preview

For a reintroduction episode, this was pretty exciting. Having this Isaac hunt served as a way to bring up how there’s something fishy going on with the military and Bradley while at the same time reacquainted us to most of the state alchemists, Ed, Al, and their quest for the Philosopher’s Stone. They managed to work in Kimblee as well, and those of you who watched Gundam 00 probably recognized him as being voiced by Allelujah’s voice actor Yoshino Hiroyuki. I thought he did a decent job with it, but I can’t say the same for Miki Shinichirou voicing Roy Mustang. It didn’t bother me previously during the promo videos, but there’s something about his voice that just doesn’t quite seem like Mustang. I can still remember Lockon very clearly, and out of all the cast changes, this is the only one that really bothered me (so far anyway).

In any case, I still enjoyed all of the action that was in this, and I especially liked the black and white (with spurts of red) finish with Bradley. Overall, this episode was a nice way to get the audience back into the thick of things, and as expected of BONES, the production quality was quite high. It was also amusing (brought back memories) to see Ed get picked on again all time because of his height. Now that all of this is over though, it looks like they’ll be going back to the past next week for a proper telling of what happened to Ed and Al. That makes me wonder at what point Hohenheim will appear since he’s featured in the OP fairly prominently.

Oh and on a side note, what was with that really cheesy sounding English announcer saying “Fullmetal Alchemist” during the eyecatches?

the animation somewhat changed from the “natural” look in the First series to the “sharper” look of Arakawa’s drawings. I am much more accustomed to seeing the “calm” rather than the “scowling” Ed. the looks of Alphonse , Roy, Riza, and the others didn’t change at all, only a bit.

Ed new look is like seeing Ichigo backwards. Ichigo carried the guilt of his mom’s death, so he scowls. but when he realized that it wasn’t his fault at all, his face lightened to a more natural look. that is the logical explanation. While on Ed, his pupils became narrower, seeing it at odds with the former Edward of the first Fullmetal Alchemist.

I really hated the first anime. I never read the Manga, but I felt the first anime was just horrible in terms of pacing and never could decide if it wanted to be a comedy or an action anime. They did not mix scenes well, it felt very forced.

Now, I heard a second season was coming, and I was dreading all the FMA fanboys going totally nuts again. Then, I heard it was a remake, and 100% based on the Manga. Usually, the Manga IS better, so I’m actually -going- to watch this one in full, though I cannot deny the crappy first anime will pretty much influence me alot in this series.

Also, to all you people complaining about how your precious FMA characters are different. THIS IS THE WAY THE AUTHOR OF FMA INTENDED THEM TO LOOK AND ACT. The first anime, you could say those were less true than this one, I’d imagine. I haven’t read the Manga, but I hate when people automatically assume they know a character and that the authors true vision is the wrong one, despite them having made the character.

im just wondering where the original series actually branched off from the manga? and are they gonna have the remake of all the manga stuff in the first season too because that seems like a waste of time. Anyway, other than that im mostly just really confused more than anything and i really cant understand anything thats going on cause i never really read the manga from FMA. For the first episode, i felt that it was a little weak, mostly because i didn’t find the action scenes very cool or interesting but im just hoping for the best because the first series with the anime original ending is one of my top 5 animes of all time. I guess i just have to wait till next episode to see whats gonna happen.

It really branched off from the very first episode. Characters are different, motivations are different, the timeline is different, as well as major events from Ed and Al’s past (almost everything concerning his State Alchemist exam). Anybody who says that the first 25 episodes of the first anime are the same as the manga are lying through their teeth.

I think Kimblee didn’t sound bad since we’re used to manic Hallelujah… Roy on the other hand, bothers me to NO END. It sounds SO MUCH like Lockon that I can barely pay attention to what he’s saying. The least he could have done was try to lower his voice a little.

Overall, of the old cast I miss Roy and Riza’s seiyuu the most. Lust’s new seiyuu is doing a great job though.

wow! I’ve watched it…and it’s ~awesome~!!!!! (although they’re using thinner outlines for the hair, which bugs me in someway (but you, like, only notice it on Ed..)…and sometimes the character-design reminds me of Avatar: the last airbender..(again, only for Ed))
But I was like ?????????? :-? at the guy in the begining of the OP (which I love BTW, very cathchy (sp?))Show Spoiler ▼

, teenaged Hohenheim, I found out

, cause I haven’t come that far in the manga, yet, because, and don’t aske me why, I’m waiting for the library to buy them in swedish :P lol. but I think I’m going to quit waiting for the translaters and just read it in english online, which is much easier than I ever thought, I realised after being forced to read an english novel in english class…so thanks to my english teacher for making me believe in myself and my english-knowledge! and thank you to all who had anything to do with the restart of the best anime ever!!!! (lol I’ve like watched only three of them properly)( but Bleach is close second!!)
ARIGATOU GOZAIMASU!

sry for the long comment, but FMA touches my heart…it must be Al, I love him and want to comfort him in any way possible (except avoiding to watch this new season)!
I don’t know what to say, but everytime I watch an AMV (like one where Vic sings ‘Brother’ :*( ) when Ed is blaming himself for Al’s pain, my tearcanals just opens wide, and I feel -so- pitiful for bitching about school, and having to dust my room and do other chores, cause I have a mother (although no father), a house, four siblings who are more or less healthy, an nephew I love, a change to educate for free (in sweden), breakfast everyday, no war in sight, I’m able to enjoy the spring with my nose, hands, feet and mouth! I can feel the new grass when I go out for the first time barefeet, I can smell when the snow disapears from the air, I can feel the warm sun and wind on my face, I can feel the smell of the flowers and the fertilizer on the fields (lol), I can taste the first new potatoes, the strawberries, and the grilled paprika and corncobs, and fresh bread and cookies and pies and muffins! Which Al can’t….*sob*

again I’m -SO- sorry, I just had to get it out of my system!
Love to you all for loving FullMetal Alchemist!

(PS:I always thought the Manga was funnier, I hope this new serie that takes after the manga also takes after it’s great sence of humour!)

The first anime was better, it started before Brotherhood, and the art wasn’t all pointy and ragged like the manga. In fact, I hated the manga, it didn’t make any sense, even when I read it! You idiots are like children, when your toy is old and easy to rip, you throw it away, forget everything you felt for it, and buy a GOD DAMN PLAYSET!! You’d choose the new thing over the previous show that made people want to read the manga? You douchebags make me sick!

Bahhhhhh, the first episode is just more of the same. I mean, if you like that then by all means, enjoy. However, I FINISHED WATCHING Full Metal Alchemist awhile ago, I don’t need to see it again with the story order just mixed up a little.

Personally I am glad to see this new series – I was wondering how they were gonna continue the story after the way the first series ended and now I have my answer – they’re not! It was good to see Ed and Al in action again and I look forward to seeing what directions this new series takes things.

**Keroro21 – Bad form. I don’t care how much of a raging fanboy you are, this is a public space and you should use some restraint. New material featuring characters we’ve come to love is almost always a good thing as long as the characters’ motivations/personalities remain the same. I’d wager you cried like a little ***** when Show Spoiler ▼

the previous series ended with Ed in our alternate reality with no way to get back. Boohoo no more FMA episodes!

If you were at all dissapointed in the end of the last series (which you probably were judging by the veracity of your post) then you are a freakin hypocrite. Go cry to your mom if you can’t handle it and let the rest of us discuss the series like civilized people.

I wouldn’t throw away the old series for anything – hopefully I will be able to put this new series up on the altar of awesomeness with it. Only time will tell.

Wow, I wasn’t going to re-watch FMA but this episode is one of the best 1st episodes I’ve seen in a while. I might have to keep up with this one. I usually treat shonen animes like they had Ebola because most lack a story or any kind of character development(except in the scream and power level area), but I always held FMA up a bit higher but never seriously sat down to watch from beginning to end. If this show keeps up this grade of episode I might have to deem FMA Ebola free.